For those who wish to escape the confines of party thought and think rationally. I'm Reno, and I'll be talking about news, politics, art, anything that catches my attention and/or wrath, but I'll be reporting it the way I see it. As the great Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson said, "So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here - not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms."

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Are Your Children Socialists Now?

So today was the big day everyone. Today was Obama indoctrination day for schools across America, and where as some schools refrained from showing their students the Obama address many others did not.

I spent most of the day working so I couldn’t get on the phone and talk to the schools very much, but the information I did collect this afternoon was very helpful. I called schools in the Fountain ValleySchool district, including FVHS, EHS, and HBHS. Here are the results:

I called up the Fountain ValleySchool District and I spoke with the Superintendent’s Office where I was informed by a very nice woman on the phone that the Superintendent had a meeting with the principals and staff where it was made clear that this was a principal/teacher discretion issue. That they were allowed to make up their own minds on whether or not their students were allowed to watch Obama give the address in class. It was also made clear in the meeting that if parents did not want their students to watch the address that an alternative activity would be offered. That alternate activity was to go to the library.

CourragesElementary School gave me a very simple clean cut answer as to whether or not their students saw the address in class today. That answer was no, the students did not see the address. But Courrages was not alone in that decision as MoiolaElementary School and NewlandElementary School also refrained from showing the address to students.

Cox Elementary and Gisler Elementary informed me that the Obama address was a teacher’s discretion issue, and that some children did get to watch in class. Oka Elementary told me that children were allowed to watch the address in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes, but that the principal had a meeting with teachers and staff making it clear that it was up to the teacher’s discretion.

Plaven Elementary gave me a very straight up ‘yes’ answer. They said nothing about teacher discretion or a principal meeting (which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen), just told me that ‘yes’ the students were indeed allowed to watch the address.

I even called TamuraElementary school but no one was available to pick up the phone.

High Schools were a different matter. When I called Fountain ValleyHigh School I was told by the Secretary that she believed the address was shown, but directed me to the principal’s office. I was advised there that yes the students were allowed to see the address at teacher’s discretion. Whether or not the superintendent at the HBUHSD had a meeting with the high schools was unknown by the person I talked to. She took my number down and told me they would get back to me with more details.

EdisonHigh School’s secretary was a substitute today and had no clear idea if the students were allowed to watch and she directed me to the principal who was not available to answer any questions, so I left a message with my number and hope to hear back by tomorrow.

No one at Huntington BeachHigh School was available to answer my call.

So out of all the schools I got 3 no, 5 yes, 1 unknown, and 2 no answers.

I believe that this was a good turn out to be honest. It seems like the districts in this area made it less of a district or superintendent concern and made it into a teacher discretion issue. Which is fine by me, at least there were no excuses like, “the internet is down” or the fear of reprisal from parents who have “political sensitivities”.

So why then did Dr. Hubbard, superintendent from the Newport-MesaUnifiedSchool District bar his entire district from watching the address? The address was not only viewable on the internet but was broadcasted live on C-SPAN as well. So why use the excuse that since his district is having “internet access” troubles he can’t show the address?

I find it hard to believe that every school in Dr. Hubbard’s district had this internet issue. I think it did have more to do with “political sensitivities” than anything else, mainly his own political sensitivities.

I believe more light needs to be shed on this NMUSD issue. I would like to see if I can talk to Dr. Hubbard soon, but it may be hard to get in contact with him. And by the time I do it may be too late, and the story will have already fizzled out. And I’m certainly not going to turn this issue into a local political crusade to demonize or make anyone look terribly bad. I just want to know the truth. So I’m going to call NMUSD and see if I can speak to Dr. Hubbard briefly just to get a little more insight on what’s really going on.

Thank you to everyone who has been following this story. I came out with this story last week and since then I have received nothing but support and followers from like minded individuals who share my sense of honesty and truth. The reason I brought this issue to everyone’s attention was because I believed that Dr. Hubbard turned this positive message from the president into a political issue when I really believe it shouldn’t have been.

Hopefully more to come within the week! If I can talk to Dr. Hubbard I think that would conclude my on going coverage of this story.

1 comment:

Thank You, its good to know some real facts from a real person. I trust you vs any news paper. (Doesn't necessarily mean I believe they all spoke the truth to you, but i hope so)

and Teachers Discretion? I think this is all beyong lame, all through the centuries it has been a tradition(?) to listen to the President of the U.S.A. speak. Just in the last decade, I have seen the interest in this behavior die down. But not to this extent. And my biggest issue with all of this, is the hate the parents are spewing in front of the kids per their own beliefs, teaching the kids bigotry and hypocrisy, not to mention the racism they keep accusing, causes kids to 'know' what that is, i thought we were getting that one put to the past about now. Even though i don't agree with the mindsets against the speech, in this day and age, i would at least respect that the parent has a choice to opt their child out, but not the teacher. the teacher can opt themself out and hang in the library, or wait, maybe not, we dont want them to share their views of why they're not in the TV room, with those kids. Ok i'm done. Thanks and I am glad that you have had so much posi feedback, i have seen bulletins of others patting Obama on the back, and these peoples 'friends' are spewing hate like , i wont say, but made me feel sad for the human race on some levels. Peace Out and Rock On. SpyderRogue

About The Author

For those who wish to escape the confines of party thought and
think rationally. I'm Reno, and I'll be talking about news, politics,
art, anything that catches my attention and/or wrath, but I'll be
reporting it the way I see it. As the great Gonzo journalist Hunter S.
Thompson said, "So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look
for it here - not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think
of. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms."